Anionic nanoparticle-lipid membrane interactions: the protonation of anionic ligands at the membrane surface reduces membrane disruption

TL;DR

This study reveals that protonation of anionic ligands on nanoparticle surfaces reduces membrane disruption, offering insights into designing safer biomedical nanoparticles.

Contribution

It demonstrates how protonation of anionic ligands on gold nanoparticles influences their interaction mechanism with lipid membranes, reducing disruption.

Findings

Protonation of anionic ligands occurs spontaneously at the membrane surface.

Protonation accelerates NP-membrane interaction.

Protonation decreases membrane disruption caused by nanoparticles.

Abstract

Monolayer-protected gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) are promising biomedical tools with applications to diagnosis and therapy, thanks to their biocompatibility and versatility. Here we show how the NP surface functionalization can drive the mechanism of interaction with lipid membranes. In particular, we show that the spontaneous protonation of anionic carboxylic groups on the NP surface can make the NP-membrane interaction faster and less disruptive.